SANKOO: Community Health Centre (CHC), Sankoo, has begun providing routine Lower Segment Caesarean Section (LSCS) services, significantly enhancing access to comprehensive maternal and newborn healthcare for women in the remote Suru Valley and reducing their dependence on referral hospitals outside the sub-division.
Health officials said the availability of regular operative obstetric services at the block-level health facility marks a major step towards strengthening institutional healthcare delivery, particularly for expectant mothers from far-flung areas who previously had to undertake long journeys to access specialised maternity care.
The caesarean procedures are being performed by Dr Rubiya Banoo, Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician, with anaesthesia administered by Dr Asif, Senior Consultant Anaesthetist at QAAM District Hospital, Kargil, assisted by the operation theatre team.
Following each delivery, Dr Iftikhar Ali, Consultant Paediatrician at CHC Sankoo, examined the newborns and confirmed their healthy condition. He also conducted practical training sessions for nursing staff on essential newborn care and the safe handling of neonates to strengthen neonatal care services at the health centre.
Besides emergency obstetric care, CHC Sankoo is now offering regular gynaecology outpatient services, including antenatal and postnatal care, family planning, management of high-risk pregnancies and treatment of common gynaecological conditions. Officials said the expanded services are expected to improve continuity of care for women throughout pregnancy and childbirth.
The introduction of routine LSCS services forms part of the continuing expansion of specialist healthcare at peripheral institutions in Ladakh. Health authorities said the initiative reflects the Union Territory administration’s efforts to improve healthcare infrastructure, decentralise specialised medical services and ensure that quality, affordable healthcare is available closer to communities living in remote and geographically challenging areas.
